After West Ham and Aston Villa drew 1-1 at the London Stadium due to a last-minute goal from Tomas Soucek, Chris Sutton criticized video assistant referees.

The former striker for Chelsea said that although the majority of spectators were open to giving VAR an opportunity to shine, the inconsistent nature of the decision-making process has made many wary of it.

Sutton went on to explain that the Premier League’s judgments are made every week rather than just a few isolated incidents and that things cannot stay this way.

“I think most football fans feel the same way,” Sutton said during a live broadcast on BBC Radio 5 on February 17 at 17:20. Most people were in favor of giving VAR a try. but they are extremely irritated by the fact that there is still a great deal of inconsistency every week.

West Ham loses against Aston Villa due to a contentious VAR ruling.

The Hammers believed they had won all three points at the London Stadium, which would have been crucial in their ongoing fight for league position and European participation. However, a protracted VAR call determined otherwise.

It took six minutes to determine if Soucek had handled the ball during a goal-mouth scramble before the ball was turned in, making it the longest VAR assessment since the Premier League adopted the system.

There were further decisions made against the Hammers against Villa, including the disqualification of a goal early in the match and a check for a penalty, which incited a chorus of boos from the London Stadium’s spectators.

Even though VAR isn’t working as intended on many occasions, the ongoing discussion around it isn’t helping the game, and decisions like this one, regardless of whether the right choice was made or not, won’t win over more fans.

In other West Ham news, there have been rumors of Lucas Paqueta going to Real Madrid.

Follow us on Facebook for more West Ham news, or sign up for our brand-new WhatsApp Channel to receive information instantly to your phone.

Relevant Subjects